


South Pole

by Quiddity



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 01:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11151549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiddity/pseuds/Quiddity
Summary: Six months he’s waited to see these return flight numbers. For the past six months Shiro’s been in Antarctica, doing research on some kind of polarization at the South Pole Telescope. Of all the backwards places! But, Keith thinks back on how excited Shiro had been to go. Talking about the ice, the station, the telescope and the stars. This wasn’t just going to Hawaii, or Norway. This was the South Pole.So Keith had helped him pack his things, drove him to the airport, and kissed him goodbye. And...that had been the last time he’d seen him.





	South Pole

Keith knows that Shiro is coming in by way of Santiago, Chile. He can backtrack the whole flight path through his mind. From Antarctica to Punta Arenas, to Santiago, to Dallas. All in all it was nearly 24 hours of straight travel. As he approaches baggage claim, the passengers of several flights are all mixed together milling around the carousels. He reads the flight numbers on the overhead displays and his heart leaps when he finds Shiro’s. 

Six months he’s waited to see these return flight numbers. For the past six months Shiro’s been in Antarctica, doing research on some kind of polarization at the South Pole Telescope. Of all the backwards places! But, Keith thinks back on how  _ excited  _ Shiro had been to go. Talking about the ice, the station, the telescope and the stars. This wasn’t just going to Hawaii, or Norway. This was the  _ South Pole _ . 

So Keith had helped him pack his things, drove him to the airport, and kissed him goodbye. And...that had been the last time he’d seen him. Visually, at least. Shiro called him two or three times a week. All the work and Shiro’s excitement and Keith’s pining ‘I love you’s’ squished into ten minute chunks because their phone bill suffered enough without the long distance chats from nearly the other side of the world. Video calls were out of the question. The South Pole didn’t exactly have high speed internet or data to spare for video streaming. 

Keith lets out a slow breath and plucks at the sleeves of his jacket. Why was he so excited? He’s only seeing his boyfriend for the first time in months. Only a few people have arrived so far, but the suitcases are already coming up the ramp from the lower floor so Keith steps up to the carousel and watches the bags as they pass by. He can at least pick up Shiro’s luggage while he’s waiting for him to get off the plane. 

By the time he’s wrestling the first bag (of course, that grotesquely massive one that the airline had very nearly declined to take on when Shiro had left) it seems like most of the passengers have made it to baggage claim. But even though it’s a small flight, he still doesn’t see Shiro. An older couple, a group of tourists, a knot of college aged kids tanned and tired looking from too much time on the beach. A tall man dressed in a coat and gloves against the cold seeping in through the massive windows lighting up the airport. He’s got a  salt and pepper beard and dark hair pushed back out of his face. How strange that Shiro would share a flight with a guy like that. He even has the same white forelock. Keith sighs. 

Maybe Shiro got held up on the way out. Knowing Shiro, he probably stopped to talk to some other passengers, or helped a little old lady in a wheelchair or something. Keith sets the big suitcase down with a huff, his arms aching for a couple seconds at the strain. Out of the corner of his eye he sees another of Shiro’s bags come out onto the carousel but it’s down too far for him to chase after it. He watches it as it goes around on the belt. 

Then the tall man from before reaches out and picks it up. He must be mistaken. Keith pops up the handle on the big suitcase with him and rolls it around the rest of the crowd, pushing his way to the man with Shiro’s bag. 

“Sir,” he starts when he gets close. “You have my boyfriend’s-” The man turns and looks down at him and all the sudden Keith’s heart clenches tight because he’s looking at Shiro. He’s  _ different _ , with the longer hair and the thick beard but the eyes are the same, the smile is the same. The arms wrapping tight around his chest and crushing all the air out of him are just the same ones he remembers months ago. 

“Oh, babe, I missed you!” Shiro purrs. Keith can only squeak in the rib-crushing hold, giving a weak squeeze in return. Shiro tips his head and Keith feels his beard on his cheek, soft and smelling of cologne. He gasps when Shiro releases him, but doesn’t pull away, tucking himself under Shiro’s arm and against his chest. “You didn’t recognize me, did you,” he adds, though he doesn’t fight Keith pushing against him at all. 

“How long have you been working on this?” Keith asks. He reaches up and brushes his fingers around a white spot in Shiro’s beard, just under his chin. He’s not going to admit that he didn’t recognize him. But he will admit that he looks awfully nice with a longer cut and a well-kept beard. 

“Maybe the first two weeks I was down there,” Shiro hums. Keith watches as another of Shiro’s bags passes by them on the conveyor, but he’s too happy in his spot against Shiro’s chest to move and get it. “The rest was just upkeep.” 

“I never knew you had so much gray,” Keith teases. Shiro frowns, twists his fingers into Keith’s hair and tugs it gently. 

“And I never knew you were so sassy,” he says, smiling. 

**Author's Note:**

> @quiddid on tumblr


End file.
